EVENT SPOTLIGHT: WELCOME BACK REGATTA

Locals Take To The Water

Lunenburg Yacht Club held the first sanctioned regatta in Nova Scotia since the start of the pandemic. They named it the Welcome Back Regatta and was organized in less than three weeks! Lunenburg offers some of the best summer sailing in North America. It is not only held in the clean open waters on the South Shore of Nova Scotia, it normally offers 25 degree weather with a 15-25 SW sea breeze. Lets just say last weekend did not disappoint. There were 35+ boats and 5 fleets on one course. Two PHRF fleets, a sonar, an IOD and a J105 fleet. With the local PRO expert Colin Mann running the event everyone knew that it was going to be a great weekend. Day 1 was a classic Lunenburg sea breeze. It took a little while to get going but once it settled it was great racing. The IOD fleet got 1 race off as the wind got above their class limit and had to head in. The rest of the fleets got 3 races in with the last one being a race back to Yacht Club. Breeze was a steady 20-22 knots with a decent swell coming in from the ocean. Drew Mitchell from North Sails was on the water taking video and pictures of the racing. Once everyone got back to the yacht club there was a BBQ, sponsor tents, daily prizes and a North Sails booth inside the club with the videos and pictures playing on a TV. Day two was postponed until 1 o'clock to let the breeze come in. Racing started at 1 pm sharp and 3 great races got off in 8-14 knots. Again everyone came into the club after racing and enjoyed a BBQ while chatting about the racing. Many sailors hung around the docks and yacht club until late and enjoyed the standard sailor chit chat and beverages. Day 3 had a bit of a surprise with the Bluenose II sailing across the race course before the racing started. Once the racing started the breeze was very similar to day one in terms of direction and strength. Started around 8-10 knots and quickly built to proper sea breeze. Colin got the IOD's off first so they could make up for some races lost on day one. IOD's got three races in and the rest of the fleets got 2.

Having spent the better part of a lifetime in the business it was wonderful to be reminded how much fun it is to race boats. Welcome back!

After racing everyone headed back to the club except for a few Chester YC boats that just continued downwind to Chester. Dinner and Awards were a hit with local sailing hero Andreas Josenhans presenting the awards. I know everyone enjoyed the regatta and I would like to pass along a big thanks to the organizers especially Jennifer Hall and the Mann family as well as a thank you to all the sponsors. A final straw in the regatta cap was when I was walking down the dock to head home I heard a group of sailors saying " hopefully we can have another event like this next year." Regatta Chair Jennifer Hall shares, "As one of the only keelboat regattas in North America this summer, it’s not surprising that sailors from across Atlantic Canada were keen to come to Lunenburg for the LYC Welcome Back Regatta this past weekend. The success of the event is thanks to all the Club volunteers who made it happen and the support from our event partner and suppliers, including North Sails." Please check out the results and contact Drew Mitchell, based at North Sails Vancouver, if you would like to see any pictures or videos taken on day one of the event. Photos below courtesy of Sky Sailing Studios.